This invention relates to an arrangement and method for providing communication between premises and emergency personnel responding to an emergency at the premises.
Security and public safety officials often respond to emergency situations under conditions in which they know little or nothing of the nature of the emergency. among the factors which must be evaluated by the responding emergency personnel are, in the case of a crime, the number of suspected perpetrators, the type of armament, if any, whether there are hostages, location of a get-away vehicle, and the like. Time must be spent by the responding emergency personnel in becoming acquainted with the situation after their arrival on the scene, and some of that time may be spent on matters which are ultimately not needed. In those cases in which a person on the scene of the emergency is in telephonic contact with a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), which is the formal name for 911 dispatch centers, and the dispatcher is in radio contact with the emergency crew on its way to the scene, the emergency response personnel or crew may be advised moment-by-moment of the conditions at the scene, so that upon arrival, the crew may be immediately effective. The readiness and safety of the officials and of victims at the site of the emergency could be enhanced by a more effective arrangement for providing information.
A method for responding to an emergency according to an aspect of the invention includes the steps of, in response to a declaration of an emergency condition at a site, enabling a television camera previously located at the site, if the camera is not already enabled, to thereby generate video signals representative of the site. A signal representative of the declaration is transmitted to a central response location remote from the site; the signal is intended to alert operators at the central site. At the central response location, the signal representative of the declaration is responded to by coupling the video signals to the central response location, if it is not already coupled to the location. At the central response location, responding to the signal representative of the declaration by transmitting radio signals to at least one motorized emergency response person instructing the emergency response person to proceed to the site. This step of responding may be accomplished by way of an intermediary step, which may include sending a telephonic message to a Public Safety Access Point, which in turn transmits the radio signal. At the central response location, scene images are transmitted to the at least one motorized emergency response person by way of radio signals, whereby the emergency response person can view images of the scene before entering the scene. If appropriate, the last step can also be performed by way of the PSAP, or the central response location may itself be, or include the PSAP.
In order to aid in accomplishing the above function, an apparatus according to an aspect of the invention includes one or more television cameras located at a site which may be the scene of an emergency. The apparatus also includes an emergency declaration arrangement located at the site, for being enabled in response to indicia of an emergency, for generating electronic emergency declaration signals representative of an emergency condition at the site. Such an emergency declaration arrangement may be as simple an arrangement as a conventional xe2x80x9csilent alarmxe2x80x9d as presently used in banks or stores, or it may be an automatic alarm system which responds to glass breakage or the like. The apparatus further includes a central emergency response station, which as mentioned may include, or co-act with, a Public Safety Access Point. A first transmission arrangement is coupled to the emergency declaration arrangement, for transmitting the emergency declaration signals to the central emergency response station; this is a dedicated telephone line or cellular link, a telephone or cellular dialer which responds to the emergency declaration arrangement, a data path, or the like. The apparatus further includes an enabling arrangement for enabling the television camera in response to the emergency condition, if the television camera is not already enabled at the time the emergency condition arises, whereby the television camera produces video signals representative of the scene at which it is located, which at the relevant times is the site of an emergency. A coupling arrangement is coupled to the central emergency response station and to the television camera, for coupling the video signals from the television camera to the central emergency response station. This coupling arrangement may include video switches, processors, andor signal paths.
An electromagnetic radiation communication arrangement including a first portion located the central emergency response station and a second portion co-located with the emergency response person or vehicle, for communications between the central emergency response station and the emergency response person, for transmitting the video signals to the location of the emergency response person, and for display of a sequence of images of the scene of the emergency, as a result of which, or whereby, the emergency response person can view the images before, or concurrent with, entering the site of the emergency. Naturally, the emergency response person will ordinarily be in a vehicle which is initially at a location which is remote from both the emergency response station and from the site of the emergency. The emergency response person will drive the vehicle to the site of the emergency, and then leave the vehicle in order to address the emergency situation. The video path should extend not only to the vehicle, but also to the emergency person""s communication device.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the emergency declaration arrangement comprises a switching arrangement responsive to an automatic alarm system. In one embodiment, the electromagnetic radiation communication arrangement comprises a satellite link.